accuse

verb

ac·​cuse ə-ˈkyüz 

accused; accusing

transitive verb

1

: to charge with a fault or offense : blame

He accused her of being disloyal.

2

: to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process

He was accused of murder.

intransitive verb

: to bring an accusation

accuser

ə-ˈkyü-zər 

noun

Synonyms

• charge
• criminate
• defame [archaic]
• impeach
• incriminate
• indict

Examples of accuse in a Sentence

she was accused of lying on the employment application

Recent Examples on the Web

He is accused of killing former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, and her husband, Mark, early Saturday morning at their Brooklyn Park home in Minneapolis. —Audrey Conklin, FOXNews.com, 20 June 2025

The 36-year-old American star — currently on tour in Europe — is accused of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to music producer Abraham Diaw just hours after performing to thousands at a venue in Cardiff, Wales. —Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025

The 36-year-old is accused of an unprovoked attack on producer Abe Diaw at London’s Tape Nightclub in February 2023. —Zac Ntim, Deadline, 20 June 2025

In the 2022 case, Ruffer is accused of calling his Arab neighbor a terrorist and threatening to kill both the neighbor and the man's dog, according to KTRK. —Doc Louallen, ABC News, 20 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English acusen, accusen, borrowed from Anglo-French accuser, acuser, borrowed from Latin accūsāre "to blame, censure, charge with a crime," from ad- ad- + -cūsāre, verbal derivative of causa "legal case, reason, cause" — more at cause entry 1

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for accuse

• accrues
• aircrews
• amuse
• bamboos
• breakthroughs
• canoes
• cashews
• chartreuse
• confuse
• construes
• defuse
• ensues

Kids Definition

accuse

verb

ac·​cuse ə-ˈkyüz 

accused; accusing

: to blame for wrongdoing : to charge with a fault and especially with a crime

accuser noun

accusingly

-ˈkyü-ziŋ-lē 

adverb

Legal Definition

accuse

verb

ac·​cuse

accused; accusing

transitive verb

: to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process compare indict

intransitive verb

: to make or bring an accusation

accuser noun

Etymology

Latin accusare to find fault with, charge with a crime, from ad to, at + causa legal case, trial